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Amazon HolidaySelling Guide - 2016Promotional strategies to create the mostwonderful (and profitable) time of the year.

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The most wonderful time of the year

Emerging trends

Key Dates

To-Do: September

To-Do: October

To-Do: November

To-Do: December & January

International Trends

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Included in this Guide

2016 holidays shaping up to be the biggest yet

Data from Comscore (above) shows a stairstep progression of YOY e-commercegrowth over the holidays since 2011, with 2016 looking to be the biggest yet.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em51% of the total e-commerce growth in Q4 2015 was attributed to Amazon. And

for 2016, 47% of people have planned to do all of their holiday shopping there.

The most wonderful time ofthe year2016 will be a landmark for online retailers, particularly Amazon.

Shipping expectationsPeople are buying later and later, into “week 8” of the holidays - this is the“Amazon effect” because shoppers implicitly trust the 2-day delivery promise.Amazon has definitely set the bar very high for all online retailers. Leveragethe power of Amazon’s world class fulfillment infrastructure to ensurecustomers get their holiday orders on time.

Mobile shoppingGrowth rates for mobile are faster than desktop. Mobile searches now eclipsedesktop searches, which are flat.

Thanksgiving is the new Black FridayShoppers are starting to browse online sales on their mobile devices before theturkey and bean casserole has even been cleared from the table. Outside of theUS, this shopping period is also emerging as a major shopping occasion.

Discovery tactics to get foundAmazon is an increasingly crowded marketplace, with an estimated 400million product listings. Sponsored Product Ads help with “top of the funnel”discovery of products. Instead of hoping that consumers will discover yourbrand and products in organic search results, use PPC ("Pay Per Click"advertising) to get prime airtime in relevant search results.

Emerging trendsConsumer behavior is changing. As more households switch tobuying online, brands need to adapt by delivering on what's nowimportant to shoppers.

Date Holiday Importance*

November24

Thanksgiving 43.4% YOY growth

November25

Black Friday #2 Shopping Day in 2015 | 20.3% YOY growth

November26

CyberSaturday

The peak mobile shopping day during 2015 - 68% oftransactions came from smartphones and tablets |16.9% YOY growth

November27

CyberSunday

15.9% YOY growth

November28

CyberMonday

#1 Shopping Day in 2015 |18% YOY growth

December12

MegaMonday

#3 Shopping Day in 2015

December25

ChristmasDay

December26

Boxing Day(UK, Canada)

Traditional shopping holiday for the UK & Canada

*Growth stats from Channel Advisor).

Key Dates

Consider a hybrid modelIf you sell on the Vendor Central or Vendor Express platforms, consideradopting a hybrid approach by opening a Seller Central account and leveragingthe FBA program in addition to filling Vendor POs. This can ensure that there isenough available inventory over the Holidays, and that all of your productvariations in your assortment are represented, not just the ones that Amazonsees as being high-potential.

Ship inventoryThis is the final month before the official start of the Fourth Quarter (Q4). Shipinventory in September! Don't get your inventory caught in the traffic jam ofinbound shipments to Amazon Fulfillment Centers.

Keyword researchSpend some time researching your potential Amazon search terms, finding themost relevant words for each product listing to enhance your products’visibility. Use this research to update back-end keyword metadata andexperiment with updated product titles.

To-Do: SeptemberStart planning! Take time to analyze your Q4 2015 performance now.What did you do right/wrong last year? Start a plan to maximizefestive success in 2016.

Product & Ad display auditCheck how your Sponsored Product ads & product listings display in mobilesearch results.

Update product titlesLeverage keyword research and also use the brand terms and other wordspeople are searching with. And be sure to put the most important informationin the first 25 characters of your titles.

Update product imagesAre your product images good quality? Do an audit to make sure all images arehigh resolution and optimized for each channel. Use only high-resolutionimages and experiment with dynamic or alternative angles to stand out fromcompetitors.

Beef up customer service capabilitiesAre you responding to customers on weekends? If not, you could be hurtingyour metrics on marketplaces like Amazon. Around this time, Amazon alsoasks merchants to respond to customers within 12 hours (instead of the usual24 hours) in order to create the best customer experience. At busy times, don’tforget to monitor all of your feedback metrics and deal with customer queriesand complaints quickly.

To-Do: OctoberOctober is the time to consolidate your service model, and makefinal tweaks to product listings to maximize conversions.

PPC Checklist

▢ PPC needs to be running for 2-3 weeks BEFORE an event/holiday. Forexample, Black Friday PPC campaigns should be set up in earlyNovember.Use negative keywords. Save money and boost performance byeliminating keywords you don’t want to target.

▢ Start increasing bids for holiday keywords slowly and track progress.▢ 1 week before Black Friday: Upload Black Friday PPC ads in “paused” status

▢ Even if you’re using automatic bidding, make sure you check in on the peakdays to make sure your bids are working as they should. If they’re not, re-evaluate them while in progress.

▢ If selling in Canada and the UK, start ramping up PPC in those marketplacesin mid-November, to prepare for the peak December shopping period.

To-Do: NovemberIt's all about PPC ("Pay Per Click" advertising) this month.

JanuaryBe aggressive with Lightning Deals and other promotions to help clear excessinventory left over from the Holidays to save on inventory storage fees in thecoming months.

Deals and promotions can also help attract the millions of consumers who’llwant to be spending the gift cards that they received for Christmas.

DecemberPrepare for Boxing Day. Do you sell in the UK or Canada? Prepare keyword-specific campaigns for this holiday and social campaigns for Boxing Day, keepthem paused until Christmas.

Prepare for a Post-Christmas inventory clean-up. Launch any post-holiday salesto take advantage of consumer looking for deals or returning gifts. This activityextends right into January.

To-Do: December & January

United KingdomBoxing Day (December 26th) is a national holiday and the traditionalbargain-hunting day for Britons. Since better sales are expected afterChristmas rather than before, the bulk of Holiday shopping spend is inDecember rather than throughout November and December in the US.Still, Black Friday is emerging as a major shopping event, though this is nota public holiday as in the US.

CanadaBlack Friday and Cyber Monday aren’t as big of a deal in Canada as in theUS, and most shopping actually happens in the month of December.Like in the UK, Boxing Day (December 26th) is a national holiday and thetraditional bargain-hunting day for Canadians. Since better sales areexpected after Christmas rather than before, the bulk of Holiday shoppingspend for Canadians is in December rather than throughout November andDecember in the US.

International Trends

Get HelpQ4 can be the most exciting and profitable time of

the year for brands and retailers, but capturingdemand and getting the most out of this season also

requires considerable effort.

Bobsled Marketing helps brands to launch, scalerevenue, and expand to new international markets

on Amazon.

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